


Altar of Knowledge

by vivi1138



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Don't copy to another site, Gen, Short One Shot, Sith Holocron, The Dark Side of the Force, creepy cave
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-12
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-10-08 21:48:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17394293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vivi1138/pseuds/vivi1138
Summary: A Holocron is found, a mistake is made, and nothing will ever be the same again.





	Altar of Knowledge

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone!
> 
> This is a story I wrote in 2016 for a Star Wars writing contest (which I won). Since it's been so long, I figured I would finally post it somewhere.
> 
> I didn't have a specific character or time period in mind when I wrote it.
> 
> Beta-ed by the amazing Je.

The stone altar stood at the back of the cave, barely visible in the dim light coming through the limestone ceiling. The moons of Gap Nine were high in the sky above the northern swamps, and outside, one could hear the sounds of a peaceful night; the gentle croaks of the white backed gizkas, the flapping of the mynocs' wings, the distant roar of a wild beast. But inside the cave, a bubble of silence reigned, disturbed only by the fast breath of a traveller, kneeling on the wet soil.

 

She gazed at the ancient altar and wondered who built it and for what purpose. She could feel an echo of powerful presences, and closing her eyes showed her shadow figures meditating around her, in the past and possibly the future. They were dark and light, some felt comforting, and some felt terribly wrong. This cave had once been a regeneration pool for Force users, she had seen it in vivid dreams recently. Her visions showed someone building a Holocron and a sinister entity sealing knowledge inside. She saw the Holocron lighting up then losing its power. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't find out if this had already happened. Why build an altar and leave it to rot if it never served its purpose?

 

She cleared her mind and reached out for the clip on the left of her belt. She released her lightsaber and placed it on the altar, closed her eyes, and started dismantling it piece by piece. Long ago, she had been in that situation when she had built her first weapon - how hard had it been at the time! It had taken hours. Today, her connection to the Force was strong and steady. In a few minutes, the lightsaber was unusable once more.

 

The crystal floated towards her, carried by her powers. Feeling her throat close up, she turned her attention to the Force.

 

She had always visualised it like an intricate cobweb, white threads linking her with any and all living things in the Universe. Lately she had been able to see them all around her even with her eyes open, thin strands of silk that vanished, exploded, snapped, shook with each major emotion their owner felt. Some were almost invisible at all times - living creatures she had no attachment to, some were strong but only hurt her during a mass casualty, and others... others were radiating heat, joy and sadness. These were the ones that had brought her to the cave.

 

Jedi formed no attachment, felt no emotion. If they did, their sensitivity to others' emotions could harm them. A Force user in pain could easily slip to the Dark Side. A lover dying could kill them.

 

The woman had felt it all, there was no escape. She was not strong enough to close her mind to all the suffering carried through the Force by war.

 

She started cutting the threads. She used the Force to lift the crystal again and broke the links. Faint ones first. She noticed a shudder in the glowing threads. Her old Master would feel her drifting away soon enough and this thread would be the toughest to destroy.

 

Sweat started forming on her skin. It was becoming harder - harder to see them, reach them, even harder to lift the crystal. She was distracted, feeling something stir in the cave. But she kept going. A part of her urged her to stop, to pick up the pieces of her lightsaber and put them back together, to meditate while the threads reconstructed themselves, so she'd be ready for whatever lurked in the shadows. She knew there was something there, she had felt it before entering the swamp, and it was getting stronger.

 

Deep down, fear started building up. Her work became frantic. She needed to calm down or this would all be for nothing. More threads were cut. Whispers filled her head, the voice of her Master called her name. He sounded worried, and rightfully so, for the crystal was now severing the link between them. The woman whimpered and trembled, the crystal fell to the ground. She couldn't levitate it anymore. She picked it up and manually finished her task.

 

_Listen to me! Something is here with you-_

 

The last thread disappeared and the woman was suddenly more alone than she had ever been. Or was she?

 

She knew the presence was still there, but couldn't guess where. There were no more shadowy figures, visions of the past or future, and she couldn't see the little particles in the light falling on the altar. Her body was shivering, she felt the hair on the back of her neck standing up.

 

She had done it. She had cut herself from the Force, and it felt nothing like she expected. She wanted to be free of the pain but instead she was now blind and defenceless. Was this really supposed to be this way? Did she do something wrong?

 

She did the only thing that still made sense. She ran.

 

Where she stood before, dust started moving. The ground and walls were vibrating and the altar broke in half. It had acted as a conduit, draining the Force from the woman who thought she had just silenced her own mind. Had she done this anywhere else, she would have succeeded. Instead, she awoke a forgotten power.

 

 

Between the fragments of the broken altar, the old Holocron lit up once more. It would wait, and all the sinister knowledge it contained would one day be discovered. Just as planned...

 

 

END

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
